


Stalemate

by unsureavenger



Series: in the canon universe [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Capture the Flag, F/M, Gen, Post-The Battle of the Labyrinth, Pre-The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25079698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsureavenger/pseuds/unsureavenger
Summary: The Capture The Flag match immediately following the Battle of the Labyrinth sees Annabeth and Percy pitted against each other as opposing team leaders.Percy wants the priceless gloating rights of winning, but can’t figure out why he desperately wishes she was on his team instead.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson
Series: in the canon universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178210
Comments: 2
Kudos: 112





	Stalemate

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of forgot that Castor died in The Battle of the Labyrinth, so this is a reminder to fix that when I have some time.

"Corn cob?" Percy offered in an attempt to break the silence. 

Nico Di Angelo just shook his head in silence. 

Percy threw a glance over his shoulder to the Athena table, where his friend Annabeth was sitting like 'help me!'

Talk to him, Annabeth mouthed, jerking her head in Nico's direction. 

Percy fidgeted in his seat. What was he supposed to say to a scary 12-year-old who was a son of death? Not to mention that Percy had indirectly killed his older sister. "Uh, so. How's camp so far?" 

Nico shrugged and prodded the vegetables on his plate. "Okay, I guess. I tried the lava wall the other day; not a good idea." 

"Made any friends?" Percy asked hopefully. 

He felt guilty when Nico slumped even further into his bench. "The campers hate me. No one talks to me, how can I make friends?" 

Percy inconspicuously through another S.O.S. look to Annabeth, and this time she sighed and got up from her table. 

"Hey, Nico," Annabeth said as she slid into the space beside him. "I hope Percy isn't bumming you out. He can be pretty bad company sometimes." 

"Hey!" Percy protested. He tried to ignore the fact that she was sitting at his table. He glanced at Chiron, but he seemed to be okay with it because she was welcoming Nico. 

Nico cracked a smile. 

Percy swore Annabeth had magical powers. 

"And Capture the Flag's coming up soon," Annabeth said, nudging Nico's shoulder. "The campers get all wound up and the game's never a disappointment." 

"And you can be on our team!" Percy suggested. "Annabeth always leads, and I always ally with her because well, never bet against Annabeth. And you can join us; we can be, like, the Big Three duo." 

Nico raised an eyebrow. "The Big Three duo?" 

Percy pulled a face. "I'll come up with a better name." 

"Campers, attention please!" The clip-clip of Chiron's hooves were enough to quieten the campers. "Since Capture the Flag is Friday night next week, the team leaders have been decided today." 

Loud cheers erupted from the Ares and Athena tables - the usual game leaders, since they were the largest cabins. 

"Leading the red team is..." Chiron paused for effect. "The Athena cabin!" 

Whooping and shouting went up from their table, as the siblings high-fived each other and started discussing plans. 

"Okay, I have an idea," Annabeth said to me in a hushed voice. 

"Silence!" Chiron stamped his hooves. "And leading the blue team will be...the Poseidon cabin!" 

Silence filled the pavilion. Eyes quickly swivelled between Annabeth and Percy, as the two of them quickly realised what this meant. 

"What?" Percy was so astonished that the fry he'd been munching fell out of his mouth. 

A flurry of whispers crossed the pavilion. 

"Percy and Annabeth..." 

"Ooh, this is going to be interesting." 

"You're going down, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth declared. 

Percy matched her gaze. Her features were hardened, but there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye. 

"Not a chance, Wise Girl," Percy snorted. 

"Oh, it's on," Annabeth challenged. 

Most of Percy's week then consisted of gaining other cabins' allegiances. Fortunately, Hephaestus' head counsellor was Charles Beckendorf, a good friend of Percy's who owed him a favour. 

Percy promised to wash out some of their dirty automatons and tools - all he had to do was push water through them - in return for their help in the games. 

So it was him and about 6 burly Hephaestus kids against Annabeth. He had no doubt that Annabeth could easily win. 

Next stop was Nico Di Angelo. 

He didn't have a cabin, so he stayed at the Big House. He wasn't a permanent nor a summer camper, but he was visiting at Percy's insistence, since Nico was still recovering from the battle of the Labyrinth a few weeks ago. 

"Want to be on my team?" Percy offered. "We're blue, and I have a feeling we'll work well together."

Nico just shrugged, but Percy had a feeling that he was getting hyped up for this game too. 

While Percy was hurrying around with battle plans and discussions, he hardly spoke to Annabeth at all. 

This was the first time he and Annabeth had been opposite team leaders, and Percy knew this tactic of hers extremely well. She usually froze out the opponent by ignoring him until the game. She claimed it was so she "could beat them more easily". 

Annabeth had already gathered the Hermes cabin through supplying some fireworks and prank ideas, and the Apollo cabin by trading chores. 

"Hey, punk!" Clarisse strode in on Percy, Nico and Beckendorf, who were working on battle plans in the fields. 

She slammed her dagger down on the pedestal beside them, and Percy gulped. "You've got Ares' pledge." 

Percy blinked. "Wait, what?" 

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "How thick can one be?" she muttered under her breath. 

"I mean," Percy resisted the urge to make a snarky comment. "Why would you help me? You hate me." 

"You got that right," Clarisse growled. "But we hate the Athena cabin, and we don't want to see them win. With Hades, Hephaestus and Ares on your side, you're bound to win." 

Percy gave her a weak smile. Allying with his least favourite gods? Yippee! 

She plopped herself down next to Beckendorf and looked over their sketch of the battlefield. "What is this?" 

"That's the forest," Percy explained. "That's the creek, see?" 

Clarisse snorted. "That's not even a map, Percy." 

"Hey, I'm not Annabeth, okay?" Percy said indignantly. "I'm not some genius who's amazing at drawing and strategic planning." 

Clarisse raised an eyebrow. "You think she's amazing?" 

Percy's jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me? That's what you're focusing on right now?" 

"She's got a point," Beckendorf whispered to him. "You're so oblivious that even Clarisse caught on before you did." 

Percy silenced him with a look. Nico was starting to look extremely uncomfortable. "Let's just get on with this." 

As the game edged closer and closer, tensions in camp spiked high. Opposing cabins refused to even speak to one another, and even sat on opposite sides of the campfire in the evenings. 

Percy had never played a game of Capture the Flag that was so real. He'd also never been so excited. 

The last cabin he recruited was Dionysus, consisting of Castor and Pollux. 

Percy reconsidered naming his team "The Children of Every Single God I Hate". 

Castor and Pollux, in the end, were a great addition to the team, because Annabeth had Demeter's daughters on her side, and they were experts in growing plants. 

Pollux could control grapevines, which was a pretty handy power, and Castor could cause temporary madness (though he said it was usually unpredictable). Both were good fighters. 

The Ares cabin was a force to be reckoned with. There were now about 7 campers, including Clarisse. They were huge, stocky, with more brawn than brain, something which Percy was confident Annabeth would use to her advantage. 

The good thing about Annabeth being the leader of the red team was that Percy knew all her tactics inside out. There was usually always a distraction, and the attack was never where you thought it was. 

But he also figured that Annabeth might pull a switcheroo on him and choose other battle plans, because she would've guessed that he was going over all her usual tactics. 

Or maybe she would reverse-psychology him and use her usual plans. 

The whole thing made Percy's head turn, and he decided to just focus on their own plans. 

Nico was also a major player in their team. Being the son of Hades, he had some cool powers like summoning huge walls of obsidian out of nowhere. However, he was a small kid, and summoning skeletons was against the rules because that was the same as adding on more players. 

Overall, Percy was fairly confident in his team. Not to mention that beating Annabeth would be the greatest achievement in his life. 

"And we've got you," Beckendorf reminded him. "You're our best player." 

To Percy's surprise, no one disagreed. He cleared his throat. "Uh, thanks guys." 

Then the big day came. 

Percy could hardly eat, and he and Nico revised strategies in hushed tones across the Poseidon table. He forced Nico to eat some bread - he would need the energy - while Percy stocked up on cookies. 

He could feel Annabeth's gaze on his back as she discussed with her siblings. That meant that she was actually nervous that they might win - that gave him hope. 

Clarisse seemed sure of their victory because they had the strongest cabins, but Percy was certain that Annabeth had a trick or two up her sleeve. 

When it was time for the game to start, everyone geared up and armed themselves.

The Hephaestus cabin had constructed devices that fired off green sparks into the sky for the blue team. 

Percy gave everyone on his team a sparkler. "Since we'll all be splitting up, if you see Annabeth, shoot these into the sky. I'll come running to help." 

Percy was playing as reinforcements. That way, he could switch freely between defence and attack. 

The Ares campers were attack (of course), but Percy had a plan (for once). They were a head-on charge, which might scare the red team. Nico and Beckendorf would circle around on the left, while two other Hephaestus campers would do the same on the right. The four of them were Percy's attack team. 

Pollux and Castor were on defence. They fought best when together. 

The last line of defence were the remaining Hephaestus campers. They were big and strong, enough to fend off any red team campers. 

There were 2 Ares campers with the Hephaestus kids on defence, and they were in charge of the jail. Percy trusted them not to let anyone out. 

Percy knew that they were heavy on the attack, but it was best to get the red flag and end the game as quickly as possible before Annabeth could enact another strategy. Her plans were elaborate and took time, so if they sped up, they had a better chance of winning. 

A loud whistle went into the air. 

The game had started. 

"Move up!" Clarisse yelled, urging her siblings forward, and the five of them shouted battle cries as they charged. 

Percy nodded to Nico and Beckendorf, who promptly disappeared behind the trees on the left side. Jake Mason and Christopher did the same on the right. 

"Do we just wait?" Castor asked. They were stationed at the creek. He and his brother stood behind Percy in wait of the red team.

Percy squinted; he could hear shouts and see blurs of running campers. "I don't think we have to." 

Sure enough, half of the Hermes cabin burst out from the left side of the forest, shouting and waving their weapons in the air. Some less experienced, unclaimed campers dropped their swords in the commotion. 

"Get them!" Travis Stoll hollered, leading his siblings in for the charge. 

Percy raised his arms, and the creek exploded, dragging the Hermes cabin into water.

Another roar came from the forest, and a flurry of arrows rained down on them. Percy deflected some and sliced others out of the air - but the Apollo cabin were already running towards them. 

"What the-" One of the arrows had been carrying a small satchel that exploded once it landed, releasing some pink powder. 

Percy instantly felt dizzy, like his soul was floating out of his body. He looked at his hands, then back at the Apollo cabin in confusion. 

"Love magic, gahhh!" Pollux shouted. 

Percy raised a hand, and a stream of water drenched him and his teammates, dissolving the powder and knocking him back to his senses. "Aphrodite," he muttered under his breath. 

The Hermes cabin had taken advantage of their confusion and had climbed out of the creek, Apollo campers at their heels. 

"Stand your ground," Percy yelled at Castor and Pollux. 

He charged into the fight, taking down two Hermes campers with the flat of his blade. Percy heard Pollux let out a shout, and grape vines started growing around the opponent's feet, pulling them to the ground. 

Percy rammed his shoulder into Travis' chest and knocked him to the ground, then disarmed one of his brothers with a quick flick of Riptide. 

Another arrow landed next to Percy, but he'd learnt his lesson. A wave of water splashed onto the arrow and dispersed the magic it carried. 

Percy glanced back at his progress. He'd incapacitated majority of the Hermes cabin, and the ones he hadn't fought were tied up on the ground. 

Castor was duelling an Apollo kid who'd gotten past Percy and Pollux, and there were some other campers dancing madly around Castor with their arms flailing around. Percy made a mental note never to get on his bad side. 

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated Percy's face. He shielded his eyes with a wince, but he saw the green sparks in the air - just a few hundred metres into the forest. 

He glanced back at Pollux, who shooed him away. The two Ares campers were already gathering the red team campers for jail time. 

"We'll be fine," Pollux assured him. "Go!" 

Percy saluted the brothers and hurried into the trees. He jumped over the creek and ran down the footpaths. Since his first summer at camp, Percy had come to know the forest like the back of his hand.

He followed the sparks until he reached Zeus' Fist. It used to be a good place to hide the flag until Kampê died on it a few weeks ago during the battle of the Labyrinth. 

There was no one here. 

A loud thump made Percy pivot as someone jumped out of a tree and landed beside him. 

Too late, Percy recognised her as Elise from the Athena cabin. Another thump, and Malcolm Pace landed next to her. 

Within a second, Percy found himself surrounded by a circle of five Athena campers. 

It was an ambush. 

The air in front of Percy shimmered, and Annabeth appeared there, a huge smirk on her face and her Yankees cap in hand. In her left hand, she clutched a sparkler. 

Percy tightened his grip on his sword as he realised hat he'd walked straight into a trap. 

"You're just too easy." Annabeth stuffed her Yankees cap into her back pocket. "If you surrender now, you can save yourself a whole lot of energy." 

Percy gave her his usual troublemaker grin. "I don't think so." Percy fired his sparkler into the air. "The Ares campers will be here to drag your siblings to jail soon. Aren't you worried?" 

To his surprise, Annabeth's face broke into a smile. "Not really." 

Percy felt his stomach drop in uncertainty. He turned around, and he could vaguely see the creek in the distance. There was a camper - a head of bright blonde hair - streaking through the forest towards their side. 

Without warning, Percy drove Riptide into the ground. The ground shook, and Percy manage to maintain his balance, but the Athena campers toppled over. 

Annabeth disappeared, and Percy could hear the crunch of footsteps as she sprinted away, but he had bigger problems to deal with. 

As the mini-earthquake subsided, he charged up and smashed the hilt of his sword into Malcolm's helmet, denting it and knocking him out. Percy parried a strike from Elise and pushed her away, before turning around and disarming another one of Annabeth's siblings. 

When they were all lying on the ground, groaning or unconscious, Percy turned away from them. 

"What's up?"

Percy nearly fell over from shock as Nico stepped out from behind a tree. "Gods, Nico! How the hell did you get there?" 

Nico just shrugged. "You sent sparks, didn't you?" 

Percy dismissed it. "Never mind, we need to stop the red team. One of them's headed to get our flag." 

Nico nodded firmly. "Will Solace. I saw him earlier. He's the fastest sprinter at camp." 

"Where's Beckendorf?" Percy asked.

Nico gave him a smile that sent chills down Percy's spine. "He's with Clarisse. She's got the flag." 

Percy let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, we just need her to get across the creek before Will does. C'mon." 

Percy and Nico ran through the forest and towards the creek in an attempt to confront Will Solace before he could get across. 

Percy waded through the creek easily, but he had to hold on to Nico to keep him from floating away. 

"There!" Nico shouted, pointing to where Will had just emerged from the trees. The blue flag was clutched in his right palm and he was racing across the clearing. 

The remaining campers from the red team were cheering him on. 

Percy glanced to his right, and Clarisse and her cabin were racing down the forest, red team campers on their heels, and the red flag held in her hand. 

"Get them!" Pollux shouted. He, Castor and the Hephaestus campers were rapidly trying to fend off the blockade of red campers who were keeping them away from Will. 

Grapevines sprouted everywhere, and grenades were being thrown left and right. Arrows whizzed through the air and bags of perfume landed on the ground. 

The air on the left side of the creek shimmered, and Annabeth appeared, waving her arms frantically. "Will, here!" 

Percy noticed her immediately and raced towards her. He tackled her, and they rolled on the ground in a huddle of limbs. 

"Get him!" Percy shouted to Nico, who drew his Stygian Iron sword and charged towards Will. 

The Ares campers were trying to get through the wall of red team campers holding them back. Katie Gardner was tossing seeds and growing plants every which way, and they cocooned the campers. 

But Percy had bigger problems. He leaped off of Annabeth, circling her warily as she recovered from the fall. 

Her eyes darted to the forest, as if realising that her siblings were probably lying on the ground somewhere. "I underestimated you." 

"Should've learnt that lesson long ago," Percy said. 

They both charged at the same time, weapons clashing with a metallic clang. 

Percy grunted, pushing all his weight against his sword, but Annabeth held fast. She parried Riptide away at the last second and sliced a chunk of his armour off. 

She struck again quickly, and Percy narrowly avoided getting a new haircut. He stepped backwards and raised his arms, a huge wave of water rushing towards her. 

Annabeth slapped her cap on her head and disappeared a second before the wave crashed down on the place she'd been standing earlier. 

Percy felt a rush of air movement on his left, and he quickly raised his sword - just in time for Annabeth's dagger to meet it. 

"Show yourself!" Percy yelled. "Don't be a coward!" He knew that Annabeth would never fall for such a trick, she was too smart for that, but he just needed to distract her long enough so he could get away. 

"I'm not an Ares camper, Percy," Annabeth's voice came as she landed another hit on his shoulder. Percy grunted at the force, but he ignored the pain and levelled his sword. 

A sharp kick pummelled Percy backwards, and he felt his back slam onto the ground with a loud thud. 

Annabeth pulled her cap off. 

She knelt on the ground, her knees straddling Percy's hips as she pressed the flat of her blade against his throat. "Checkmate." 

Percy couldn't help noticing how fiercely brave she looked, her blonde hair rippling in the wind and her grey eyes hard as steel. 

Percy glanced to his right, Clarisse was charging towards the creek now, no one to stop her. 

He looked the other way, and Will had floored Nico, and was now sprinting towards the creek. 

"It's going to be a tie," Percy murmured. 

Annabeth followed his gaze 

He was right. 

Clarisse launched herself across the creek at the same time that Will climbed out of the water and onto his side. 

"We won!" the Ares campers cheered. 

"No, we won!" the Hermes cabin shouted. 

Chiron galloped into the clearing, surveying the campers. "Now, this is an interesting turn of events." He glanced down at Percy and Annabeth, who were still on the ground in a rather compromising position. 

Whispers quickly overtook the shouts as everyone took notice of the duel between Percy and Annabeth. 

Annabeth scrambled off of Percy with her cheeks burning, and stood up, avoiding his eyes. 

Percy tried to keep the heat from rushing to his cheeks as he took her hand and struggled to his feet. His back still hurt from the fall. 

A sharp wolf-whistle from one of the Stolls pierced the air, making Percy shuffle further away from Annabeth with flushed cheeks. 

"I think it's a tie," Chiron said at last. 

Protests and indignant shouts erupted from both teams. 

"Silence!" Mr. D ordered. For once, he had been watching the game in actual interest. 

Chiron glanced between Percy and Annabeth. "It appears that your leaders are matched. It is a stalemate." 

Percy looked at Annabeth. 

This was the only tie in camp history. 

She looked furious that she'd come so close to winning, same as Percy. But he had to admit that he was glad it was over, and they could go back to being on the same team. 

"Well played," Percy said begrudgingly. He held out a hand. 

Annabeth shook it. "Well, I suppose I technically beat you anyway." 

Percy shook his head. "Nah, I was distracted. It wasn't a fair fight." 

"I'll kick your butt again, Jackson," Annabeth warned. 

"Maybe next week," Percy promised. "Right now, let's celebrate because, well, I hated not being on your team." 

Percy thought she would say something like "me too", but instead, Annabeth just laughed. "I know. You're useless without me." But she playfully bumped her shoulder against his. 

Percy headed back to congratulate his teammates. Beckendorf has sprained his left ankle while fighting, so he helped him limp back to the infirmary, where Will Solace was already treating people after he'd single-handedly brought the flag across the border. 

"Good one," Percy told him. 

Will smiled as he tended to Beckendorf's leg. 

Then his expression seemed to change. "Um, Nico, right, how long is he staying?" 

Percy shrugged. "No idea. Hopefully a little longer." 

Will nodded, something in his eyes that Percy didn't recognise. "Maybe I'll go talk to him later." 

Percy glanced back at Nico, who was being praised by the Ares campers. "Yeah, Zeus knows he could use some friends." 

The night ended with the usual campfire. 

Percy sat between Annabeth and Nico, singing to his heart's content and eating marshmallows until he didn't want to risk eating anymore for fear of spontaneous combustion. 

Oh, he couldn't wait for next week's Capture the Flag.


End file.
